The present invention relates to an apparatus for treating containers. Such apparatuses or systems have been known for a long time from the prior art. It is customary that the individual treatment steps are carried out in a plurality of steps, for example firstly plastic containers are produced from plastic preforms, then the containers are filled and/or also labelled. In the context of this description, the term container refers both to plastic containers that have already been produced and to the precursors thereof, such as plastic preforms for example.
In the prior art, the respective plastic containers are usually transported by means of transport devices from one treatment unit to the next treatment unit. Such treatment units may be for example transport starwheels which transport the containers in an appropriate manner. In addition, however, other transport devices are also known, such as for example air conveyors in which the containers are guided at their carrying ring and are conveyed by means of air pressure. The present invention relates in particular to those containers that have a cross-section differing from a circular cross-section, such as for example a rectangular cross-section or the like.
Depending on the way in which the containers are processed in the respective subsequent machines, the container in some cases has to be transported and fed to the respective machine in an orientation that remains constant. Different possibilities are nowadays known for this purpose, for example orientation in a starwheel, by a mechanical rotating device or the like.